The present invention relates to a take-up shaft used for the cleaning of a cylinder of a printing press and more particularly, to a novel device and method of attaching a cleaning cloth to the take-up shaft for small printing presses.
One of the more difficult and time consuming tasks in the operation to clean a cylinder used in a printing press is the need to periodically remove and replace the cleaning fabric used in cleaning the cylinder.
In a cylinder cleaner in which a supply of cleaning fabric is supplied to a cleaning fabric take-up roll, the cleaning fabric historically is drawn off a supply roll and secured to the take-up shaft by means of a plurality of nails or screws. The supply shaft containing the cleaning fabric is then installed onto two support members bolted to the main frame of the printing press.
In order to install or remove the supply roll and take-up roll from the support members, an operator first inserts the supply roll onto the support members and then attaches the cleaning fabric to the take-up roll by physically hammering or screwing the cleaning fabric to the take-up roll. This is accomplished by drawing out some of the cleaning fabric from the supply roll, attaching the cleaning fabric to the take-up roll and then rolling up the excess cleaning fabric onto the take-up roll, and then connecting the take-up roll to the support members. Alternatively, the cleaning fabric is attached to the take-up shaft before the supply roll is attached to the support members.
In order to remove the cleaning fabric from the take-up shaft, the cleaning fabric must be physically taken off the take-up shaft which can ruin the take-up shaft or rip the cleaning fabric. Since space is limited, especially in small printing presses, the ability to hammer or screw the cleaning fabric to the take-up shaft is problematic. Therefore, a need exists for a cleaning fabric take-up shaft that easily secures the cleaning fabric to the take-up shaft without the need to physically hammer or screw the fabric to the take-up shaft.
Additionally, the used cleaning fabric is typically removed from the cleaning device by unwinding the used fabric from the take-up shaft, which is permanently secured to the support frame. Therefore, a need exists for an efficient system for securing the supply roll and take-up shaft onto the printing press frame.
The shaft solves these and other needs associated with a cleaning cylinder device. The shaft was developed to maximize production time by reducing press down time during which the operators of a printing press insert and remove cleaning fabric supply roll and used cleaning fabric of a cylinder cleaner.
Features of the shaft for a cylinder cleaning device include a rigid one piece frame. Generally described, the rigid one piece frame supports a cleaning fabric supply roll, a cleaning fabric take-up shaft, and an inflatable bladder assembly. The shaft includes a rod that may be mounted or disposed by a locking connection and an axial groove for securing the cleaning fabric from the supply roll to the take-up roll. Both the supply roll and the take-up shaft are removably attached to the one piece frame.
In addition, shaft includes a rod that may be mounted or disposed by a sliding connection, inserted into a cylindrical sockets for securing the cleaning fabric from the supply roll to the take-up roll.
The take-up shaft further includes a first member and a second member. The first member has a planar section and a first end and a second end. The first end is larger than the second end. The second member has a proximal end and a distal end. The distal end is larger than the proximal end. In addition, the overall length of the second member is smaller than that of the first member. The second member is disposed over the first member in such a way that the proximal end of the second member is adjacent to the second end of the first member and the distal end of the second member is adjacent to the first end of the first member.
These, and other aspects of the shaft, are described in the following brief and detailed description of the drawings.